Making Peace With Your Past

During the fall of last year, I was experiencing turmoil in the relationship with my Mom (again). It’s a constant off and on again struggle between her and I, unfortunately. I haven’t spoken much on my Faith but I am a devout Christian and very involved in my church and close to my church family. With that being said, as if on cue from God, one morning during service I looked over the church bulletin and noticed there was a class being taught called “Making Peace with your Past”. Sounded right up my alley so I decided to check it out. I had no idea the impact this class would have on me…it was the beginning of a huge growth spurt for me emotionally, mentally and spiritually.

When I arrived to class and picked up a copy of my workbook, I read the front of it and realized this was going to be both difficult and rewarding. The front cover read:

Making Peace with your Past: Help for Adult Children of Dysfunctional Families by Tim Sledge

This was a full twelve week session. Every Tuesday night at 7pm. I made it a priority to attend and do my best not to miss any classes. Boy, did I make some breakthroughs. I learned to focus on my feelings and how to manage them and heal rather than focusing on others and how they treated me. I couldn’t change them but I could work on myself.

Here is a snippet of what I learned over the 12 week course:

Discovering Self Esteem

Recognizing Compulsive Behavior

Release from Shame

Overcoming the Fear of Joy

Help for People Who Grew Up Too Soon

Perfectionism and Procrastination

Healing Painful Memories

The Advantages of a Turbulent Past

It’s OK to be Yourself

Forgiving the People Who Have Hurt You

Coming to Terms with the Blessing

Reflection and Direction

Ultimately, I learned how to face the painful feelings of my childhood and experience healing. I would highly recommend this book for anyone that can relate to the bullet points above. It was a pivotal turning point for me.

I took a follow up class on Codependency which I will post about as a follow up to this one.

There is nothing easy about digging into your feelings and past hurts. But it’s all about being a better “YOU”.